David Chaytor - Conviction and Sentencing

Conviction and Sentencing

On 5 February 2010, it was announced that he would be charged with offences under section 17 of the Theft Act 1968 relating to false accounting in relation to claims for Parliamentary expenses and on 27 May he and other politicians appeared at Southwark Crown Court for a preliminary hearing.

Following the failure of the attempt by the group to claim parliamentary privilege in the Court of Appeal, on 3 December 2010 he immediately pleaded guilty to three counts of false accounting involving approximately £18,000 and was released on bail until a sentencing hearing in January 2011. Among the charges was that he had claimed rent on a flat in Westminster which he in fact owned, using a fake tenancy agreement.

On 7 January 2011, Chaytor was sentenced by Mr Justice Saunders sitting in the Crown Court at Southwark to 18 months' imprisonment.

On 23 February 2011 it was announced that following legal advice, Chaytor was seeking leave to appeal against the length of his sentence. The application was heard by the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) on 22 March 2011 and refused on 23 March 2011, when the Lord Chief Justice described the behaviour referred to in the charges as "calculating", with the element of dishonesty being "not simply inflated claims for expenses, but rather the careful preparation of bogus claims". The primary grounds of appeal (and the main mitigation in the original hearing) - that according to the UK Parliament's 'Green Book' expenses guidelines, Chaytor's situation would have entitled him to claim more than he had done but on a different property - was dismissed as not relevant.

On 26 May 2011, Chaytor was released from prison under the normal HDC licensing conditions.